Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle sits on a plug of volcanic basalt formed 350 million years ago, with sheer cliffs on three sides and only a gentle eastern slope as approach — a geography that made it, by one count, the most besieged place in Britain: 26 sieges over 1,100 years. Over its life it has been a royal palace, armoury, treasury, national archive, mint and prison, and it remains the home of the Honours of Scotland, the oldest surviving crown jewels in the British Isles. Most of what you see today dates from after the 'Lang Siege' of 1573, but St Margaret's Chapel, the Royal Palace and the Great Hall all survived. The walls enclose a string of corners that crowds walk past without stopping — each one worth a closer look.
United Kingdom · 46 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
Governor's House
This three-winged building on the west side of the Esplanade was built between 1740 and 1742 to a design by Dugal Campbell, architect to the Board of Ordnance, making it one of the best-preserved Georgian buildings inside the castle. The central block housed the Governor; the two flanking wings were allocated to the Master Gunner and the Storekeeper. After the governorship lapsed in the late 19th century the building served briefly as nurses' quarters for the castle hospital; when the role was revived as an honorary post in 1936, it became the Governor's official office once more.
Sources: blog.edinburghcastle.scot · en.wikipedia.org
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum
The exhibit worth stopping longest at is a French Imperial Eagle — the battle standard of Napoleon's army. This one was captured at Waterloo in June 1815 by Sergeant Charles Ewart of the Royal Scots Greys, who wrenched it from the 45th Regiment of the Line in the thick of the charge. The museum occupies the New Barracks (built 1796–99) and traces the uniforms, medals, weapons and music of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and their predecessor regiments.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Royal Scots Museum
This museum occupies a former drill hall built for the Royal Scots in 1900 — not a grand palace room but a working military building, which suits its contents. A sequence of panels, dioramas and display cases runs from the founding of the Royal Scots by Sir John Hepburn to the regiment's recent deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. The weightiest case holds seven Victoria Crosses awarded to the regiment's officers and men.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Military Prison
Built between 1840 and 1842, this small prison was modelled on the 'separate system' introduced at Pentonville Prison in London: twelve single cells on two levels arranged around a central hall, where offending soldiers served sentences in solitary confinement and were required to complete four hours of hard labour daily — moving cannonballs or treading a treadmill. Common charges included being drunk on duty, absenting oneself from post and brawling. The building was extended again in the 1880s.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · easymalc.co.uk
New Barracks
Completed in 1799, the New Barracks is the largest single building inside the castle, designed to quarter 600 soldiers. Its tall stone facade dominates the castle's western skyline. Today it houses the regimental headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, along with both regiments' museums.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Foog's Gate
Foog's Gate is an internal control gateway into the Upper Ward of Edinburgh Castle, listed… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wikidata.org
Great Hall
Completed around 1512 on the orders of James IV, the Great Hall was the castle's principal… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: blog.edinburghcastle.scot · en.wikipedia.org · academia.edu
Royal Palace
The Palace Block forms the eastern wing of Crown Square and was home to successive Scottis… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
Crown Room
The Crown Room holds the Honours of Scotland — the oldest royal regalia surviving in the B… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Portcullis Gate and Argyle Tower
The castle's main entrance combines two structures from different centuries. The lower sec… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · audiala.com
Mary Queen of Scots' Bedroom
This was Mary Queen of Scots' own bedroom inside the Royal Palace, a room she occupied dur… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: blog.edinburghcastle.scot · en.wikipedia.org
David's Tower
David's Tower was Edinburgh Castle's most imposing medieval fortification, begun by David… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Sally Port and Guard House
The Sally Port is a small concealed opening in the castle wall used by the garrison for cl… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wikidata.org
Edinburgh Castle Esplanade
The flat, open Esplanade is the last clear ground before the castle's main entrance, laid… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Lang Stairs
The Lang Stairs — 'lang' being Scots for 'long' — is the stone staircase connecting the Up… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wikidata.org · en.wikipedia.org
Old Guardhouse
The Old Guardhouse, also known as the Inner Barrier, is a checkpoint at the approach to th… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wikidata.org
Scottish National War Memorial
Converted from a barracks block on the north side of Crown Square, the Scottish National W… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Castle Gatehouse
The current gatehouse was built in 1888 as a largely decorative entrance, replacing an ear… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Portcullis Chamber
The Portcullis Chamber is the interior space attached to the Portcullis Gate, listed as a… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wikidata.org
Castle Batteries (Argyle, Dury's, Forewall, Half-Moon and Western Defences)
Edinburgh Castle's batteries cover its eastern, northern and western approaches in several… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · roy-stevenson.com
Vaults
These vaults beneath Crown Square date from around 1450 and are among the oldest spaces in… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: edinburghcastle.scot · en.wikipedia.org
Mons Meg
The barrel in front of you has a bore of 19 inches (about 480 mm) — one of the largest cal… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
One O'Clock Gun
Every day at 1 pm, a 105 mm gun on Mills Mount Battery fires a single blank round — a trad… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: blog.edinburghcastle.scot · edinburghcastle.scot
Prisons of War Museum
Set in the vaults beneath the Great Hall, the Prisons of War Museum is one of the most imm… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: edinburghcastle.scot
Earl Haig Equestrian Statue
This bronze equestrian statue on the Esplanade depicts Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Ear… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: capitalcollections.org.uk · en.wikipedia.org
One O'Clock Gun Exhibition
The One O'Clock Gun exhibition sits alongside the gun position itself, explaining the dail… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: edinburghcastle.scot
Birth Chamber
This tiny closet is one of the most historically significant rooms in Scotland: on 19 June… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: blog.edinburghcastle.scot · en.wikipedia.org
Honours of Scotland Exhibition
This exhibition space tells the full story of the Honours of Scotland — the Crown, Sceptre… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Dury's Battery
Dury's Battery is the castle's southern defensive emplacement, named after an 18th-century… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · roy-stevenson.com
52 Infantry Brigade Operation Herrick 7 Memorial Plaque
This metal plaque inside the castle commemorates the soldiers of 52 Infantry Brigade kille… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: iwm.org.uk · defenceviewpoints.co.uk
Fore Well
Beneath the ground near the Esplanade entrance lies this water source known as the Fore We… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
New Barracks
This large stone building is one of the most prominent military structures inside the cast… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
National War Museum
Housed in a former 18th-century ordnance store on Hospital Square inside the castle, the N… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Governor's House
This Governor's House was built around the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries — spanning… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
St Margaret's Chapel
The small Romanesque chapel at the highest point of the castle rock is the oldest survivin… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Portcullis Gate and Argyle Tower
The Portcullis Gate is the main checkpoint into the Upper Ward, first built by Regent Mort… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Royal Palace
The Royal Palace is one of the very few medieval structures to have survived the Lang Sieg… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Military Prison
This marker corresponds to the Military Prison building itself — the Victorian military de… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Great Hall
This marker corresponds to the Great Hall building itself — the royal hall built by James… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Argyle Battery
Argyle Battery runs along the castle's northern and western perimeter and was designed by… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Forewall Battery
The Forewall Battery was built between 1689 and 1695, connecting the Half-Moon Battery to… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: hmdb.org · roy-stevenson.com
Half-Moon Battery
The curving gun wall of the Half-Moon Battery, built between 1573 and 1588 under the Regen… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · edinburgh-tickets.com
Outer Defences
The sloping open forecourt in front of the castle took its present form in 1753 and was ex… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Upper Ward
The Upper Ward is the highest and most commanding part of the castle, but its basalt geolo… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Crown Square
Crown Square is the heart of the castle, ringed by the Royal Palace, the Great Hall, the S… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Great Hall
The Great Hall is one of the three oldest surviving buildings in the castle after the Lang… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside Edinburgh Castle?
Governor's House, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum, Royal Scots Museum and more — 46 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the Edinburgh Castle guide free?
The first 5 spots are free to read; the other 41 unlock with a one-time purchase (not a subscription).